Sling attachment for hospital beds



March 18, 1 924. 1,487,150

H. C. DEAKINS.

I SLING ATTACHMENT FOR HOSPITAL BEDS 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 WITNESSES DEA/{MAS A T TORIVE Y8 March 18 H. C. DEAKINS SLING ATTACHMENT FOR HOSPITAL BEDS iled Nov 17. 1922 I 2 Sheets-Sheet HIDE WITNESSES 2% A TTOHAIEVS Patented Mar. 18, 1924.

UN 1T HIXSON CLEOVAS DEAKINS, OF CHATT'AN'O'OGA, TENNESSEE.

SLING ATTACHMENT FOR HOSPITAL Application filediNovember 17, 1922. Serial No. 601,613.

T aZZ whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, HIXSON C. DEAKINS, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Chattanooga, in the county of Hamilton and State of Tennessee, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Sling Attachments for Hospital Beds, of which the following is a specification.

My present invention relates generally to attachments for beds, and more particularly to an attachment in the nature of a sling for hospital beds whose purpose is to permit of convenient elevation of the patient in order that the bed may be madeup, or in order that the patient may be easily raised and lowered for other purposes, and my object is the provision of a sling which may be readily applied to hospital beds of various types, which may be easily and quickly set up and taken down, and which may be also conveniently and effectively utilized for the comfortable support of a patient in a sitting position.

In the accompanying drawings which illustrate my present invention and form a part of this specification,

Figure 1 is a perspective view illustrating the practical application of my invention,

Figure 2 is a side View showing one of the side frames, partly in elevation and partly broken away and in section,

Figure 3 is a vertical section through one of the uprights of the frame and its supporting bracket, and

Figure 1 is a detail face view of one of the supporting brackets with a portion of the upright supported thereby.

Referring now to these figures my invention proposes an apparatus for the adjustablc support of a flexible sling or supporting sheet 16 above a bed, for instance a hospital bed, generally indicated at 11 in Figure 1, whose frame has among other parts side rails 12.

For its adjustable support, the'sides ofthe sling or sheet are engaged with transverse roll shafts generally indicated at 13, each in lengthwise adjustable sections let, and each having reduced end portions 15 journaled in bearings 16, one of the reduced portions 15 being extended and provided witha handle or crank 17 and being also threaded as seen at 18 in Figure 2 for the reception of a jam nut 19 having a handle 20 by means of which the adjacent bearing member 16 may be bindingly engaged to lock the roll shaft 13 against rotation.

The support of the foregoing. is constituted by a pair of side frames, each includmg upper and lower cross bars 21 and 22 in lengthwise adjustable sections between and connecting a pair of uprights 23 and by virtue of which these uprights may be adj ustably. spaced in parallel relation. On the uprights are slide members 24 to which the journal pieces 16 of the roll shafts 13 are pivotally connected by means of clamping screws 25. the latter of which also function to adjustably clamp the slide members 24 at various points in the length of the uprights 23, these clampingv screws 25 having for locking purposes jam nuts 26.

The lower ends of the uprights 23 are. in

turned as at 27, for the connection of the portions 29 adapted to straddle the .bed rails 12 and to receive therein sectional serrated 1 ping relation to the bed rails byclampingscrews 32 through the sides of the attaching brackets, capable of being locked by'jam nuts 33.

The upper portion ofeach of the attaching brackets 28 has anarcuate slot concentric with its aperture forming ajournal or pivot for the lower end of; the respective upright 23, this slot being most plainly seen at 34 in Figure at froniwhich it will be noted that the attaching bracket has along theupper edge of the slot a series of notches or recesses 35, each adapted to receive a latch pin 36 projecting inwardly from the respective upright 23 andmovable vertically in aslot37 of the upright.

The latchpi'n 36 of each upright outstands from the lower end of a vertical control rod 38 extending upwardly through the hollow ofthe upright and provided with an upper head 39 projecting slightly above the upper end of the upright and with a controlling spring 40 seated in the upright and normally holding the head 39 in its upper position, with the latch pin 36 correspondingly elevated and held within one of the notches or recesses 35. In this way the side frames may either be held in truly vertical positions or in inclined positions that is inclining both toward and away from the bed and the position may be changed by pressing downwardly upon the heads 39 of the control rods 38 of the two side bars of each frame, which has the effect of depressing the latch pins 36 into the slot 3d of the attaching brackets. With the latch pins in this position the frame may be swung toward or away from the bed andwill be secured in adjusted position by simply releasing pressure from the controlling heads 39.

In the use of the apparatus, the slide members 24 may be either secured upon the uprights 23 in horizontally alined position as shown in Figure l where, by rotation of the roll shafts 13 a patient is to be lifted bodily from the bed ll in order that the latter may be made up or for other reasons, or one of the slide members of each side frame may be shifted to the lower portion of its respective upright 23 while the other slide member is raised and secured to the upper portion of its respective upright as in Figure 2, where the sling is to be employed for comfortably supporting the patient in an upright or inclined sitting position.

It is obvious that my improved apparatus may be readily, easily and quickly set up and taken down and is applicable to Various types and sizes of bed frames, it being-obvious of course that the particular shape of the serrated gripping faces of the bed rail gripping blocks 30 may be varied to suit the particular shapes of the bed rails.

It is also obvious that by virtue of my particular apparatus slings or supporting sheets of various lengths, that is dimensions lengthwise of the bed frame, may be en ployed, depending upon use of the device either for the support of a patient bodily above the bed or the mere support of the patient in a comfortable sitting position in either of which it is of course to be understood that the patient is raised by the winding of'opposite sides of the sling or support ing sheet upon the roll shaft.

I claim:

1. A sling or lifting attachment for beds including a pair of side frames, each having adjustab-ly connected parallel uprights and a winding shaft having vertically ad j ustable bearing on the uprights and adapted to receive the opposite ends of a fiexible lift ing sheet, each of said shafts being in lengthwise adjustable sections and having a rotating crank, and each of the bearings of each shaft being independently shiftable on the uprights whereby the winding shafts and the lifting sheet may be supported in both horizontal and angularly inclined positions.

2. A sling or lifting attachment for beds including a pair of side frames, each having adjustably connected parallel uprights, slide members adjustable vertically on the uprights, having means to clamp the same in adjusted position, winding shafts extending between the uprights of said frames and having rotating means, and members in which said shafts are journaled, said shaft being in lengthwise adjustable sections and said journal members being novably connected to the slide members of the uprights, and a lifting sheet attached at its sides to the said wii'iding shafts.

8. A lifting attachment for beds incluib ing a pair of side frames each having uprights, a winding shaft revolubly mounted on the uprights of each frame, lifting sheet attached at its sides to the said winding shafts, attaching brackets for the said side frames, to which the lower ends of the said uprights are movably attached, permitting the side frames to be swung in opposite directions, bed frame clamping means carried by said attaching brackets, and means carried by the uprights and engageable with the attaching brackets to secure the uprights in adjusted position.

4. A lifting attachment for beds including a pair of side frames each iaving uprights, a winding shaft revolubly mounted on the uprights of each frame, a lifting sheet attached at its sides to the said winding shafts, attaching brackets for the said side frames, to which the lower ends of the said uprights are movably attached, permitting the side frames to be swung in opposite directions, bed frame clamping means carried by said attaching bracket-s, said attaching brackets having arcuate slots and series of recesses along the said slots, and said uprights having outstanding spring controlled latch pins movable in the slots and shiftable into selected rec sses to secure the uprights in adjusted posi on.

5. A bed sling and rest including a pair of winding shafts, a flexible supporting web whose ends are around the shafts, and supports in connection with which said shafts are journaled and with respect to which said shafts are endwise tiltable whereby the sheet may be held in inclined positions as well as in a horizontal plane.

HIXSON CLEOVAS DEAKINS. 

